the italian Angelo Fantin arrived in Brazil willing to put down roots. He not only formed a family, but created the biscuit brand parati, a giant in the sector.
This story of a lot work and dedication of yet another Italian immigrant on Brazilian soil begins on December 27, 1949, when Angelo Fantin disembarks in Caxias do Sul, in Rio Grande do Sul, at 22 years old.
Born in Plains, city in the province of Vicenza, region of Veneto, he came to Brazil to find a new world, far from wars, with opportunities for work and where he could form a family and participate in the country building. It was the story of so many Italian immigrants of those times.
Land measurement and marriage
When he arrived in Brazil, Angelo Fantin was already trained as a agricultural expert. He chose to live in the municipality of São Lourenço do Oeste, in Santa Catarina, which began the transition to the mechanized planting wheat.
Thus, the young unemployed Italian surveyor received his first job opportunity measuring the municipality’s lands. It was the entrance to labor market Brazilian.
In 1952, Angelo married Ida Libardoni Fantin and starting a family in Brazil made him rethink his career. With your entrepreneurial spirit and visionary, the immigrant was saving resources and realized that a good investment could take advantage of the large supply of raw materials in the west of Santa Catarina: wheat.
Angelo Fantin creates Parati
Thus, in 1972 the Parati Food Industries, factory cookies and pasta, which quickly grew to become one of the largest food companies in Brazil.
In the following years, the company diversified its product line, starting to launch brands of juices and chocolate drinks powder and gum. The factory was expanded and now has 85 thousand square meters of built area.
In the 2000s, the group already had 3.500 collaborators, five distribution centers and 36 distribution lines, including a second factory, opened in the municipality of Santa Maria, in Rio Grande do Sul, in 2015.
Company grows and diversifies
With production of 120 thousand tons of food per year, mainly biscuits and pasta, Parati also started producing for other companies, such as Pão de Açúcar Group, with the Qualitá brand, and for the supermarket chain Carrefour, within the portfolio of private brands.
Among Parati's brands are Paraty pasta, stuffed Cartoon, Minuet Wafers, savory stuffed Hot Cracker e Trink powdered refreshments, as well as donuts, panettones, jellies, cereal bars and many other lines. Altogether, they are 280 itens of products.
Angelo Fantin's social legacy
On October 30, 2015, businessman Angelo Fantin died, aged 87 in Florianópolis, victim of a hemorrhagic stroke. He is survived by his wife Ida Libardoni Fantin, six children, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
In addition to having helped in the progress of Santa Catarina and Brazil with his entrepreneurship, the Italian immigrant also had a political role, as he was elected vice-mayor of São Lourenço do Oeste in 1993.
The businessman was also known for his social actions, the best known being the Moleque Bom de Bola Project, where he invested more than R$30 million. The work brings children closer to the practice of sports and the reading.
Among the honors he received for his contribution to the development of State of Santa Catarina: , is Anita Garibaldi Medal, given to the businessman in 2007 by the then governor Luiz Henrique da Silveira.
End of an era, but memory is eternal
In October 2016, one year after Angelo Fantin's death, Parati was sold to the North American multinational Kellogg Company for 429 million dollars, around R $ 1,38 billion. Kellogg made the purchase through the acquisition of Rhythm Investment, controlling company of Parati. At the time, Parati's annual revenue was in the range of R $ million 600.
Also in 2016, Mariza Fantin, daughter of an Italian immigrant, launched the book Angelo Fantin – The Strength of Character, which began to be written while he was still alive.
The biography, which tells the story of his father, is not for sale, but was distributed to family friends and for some libraries. According to her, Angelo Fantin “remains alive in people’s attitudes and memories”.
And lives on legacy that he left with his work, which once again is the strong mark left by an Italian, who came to Brazil to make your dreams come true and ended up also carrying out the dreams of many people.
By Roberto Schiavon/Italianism
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